New Delhi: Commenting on a report by The Washington Post dated 29 April, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said Tuesday that the report “makes unwarranted and unsubstantiated imputations” in connection with claims about the involvement of Indian agents in the alleged plot to kill Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.
In its report, the American paper suggested that Samant Goel, the former chief of the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW), approved the alleged plot to kill Pannun, a US-based Sikh extremist who was designated a terrorist by the Government of India in 2020.
“There is an ongoing investigation of the high-level committee set up by the Government of India to look into the security concerns shared by the US government on networks of organised criminals, terrorists and others. Speculative and irresponsible comments on it are not helpful,” Randhir Jaiswal, the MEA spokesperson said in the statement Tuesday.
In its report, The Washington Post suggested that Vikram Yadav, a R&AW official who it said had been “brought in midcareer” from the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), was behind the plot to assassinate Sikh extremists in foreign countries, including the alleged plot against Pannun and the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada in June 2023.
The actions of Yadav, according to the paper, were approved by Goel.
The US first brought the connection between Yadav and the alleged plots to the notice of the Indian government in August 2023, and later President Joe Biden discussed it with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the former’s visit to India last September, said the report.
In November, India announced that a high-level committee had been set up to look into the matter. A US delegation visited India several weeks ago to take stock of the progress of the inquiry, but left with little evidence of progress, according to the report.
It is learnt that the names and other details of the case were leaked after this.
The US Justice Department opted not to file charges against Yadav, only naming him “CC-1” (Co-conspirator 1) in the November indictment filed by them, according to The Washington Post. Nikhil Gupta, an Indian national was, however, named by the US Justice Department in its indictment, and according to the paper, lured out of India to the Czech Republic, where he was arrested on 30 June, 2023.
(Edited by Richa Mishra)
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